Now that the rains have finally stopped, it is hot and dry again without a single drop of rain over the past 3 or 4 weeks. But relief comes every evening and the temperature drops several degrees making cool nights without need for air-conditioning. It's birding season again with lots of migrants wintering here for the next few months.
I've been craving to visit Kaeng Krachan but am put off by the TV images I see within and in the vicinity of Bangkok. Not wanting to risk being caught up in that scenario and to satisfy my birding cravings, I decided to head out west both to Bueng Boraphet (BB) and a side trip to Huay Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (HKKWS).
I've never been to either and didn't know what to expect but for BB, the tell tale signs of the recent devastating inundation are still very evident and the trails are inaccessible due to mounds of debris and rotting vegetation left behind when the waters receded. Even the HQ at the northern entrance is shut for repairs.
I've never been to either and didn't know what to expect but for BB, the tell tale signs of the recent devastating inundation are still very evident and the trails are inaccessible due to mounds of debris and rotting vegetation left behind when the waters receded. Even the HQ at the northern entrance is shut for repairs.
I birded the southern areas of BB. The birding was satisfactory although I didn't get to see my hoped for targets. I dipped on Rubythroat and the only flycatcher seen is the ubiquitous Asian Brown FC.
Many water birds were observed foraging in clusters of vegetation off the 'mainland'. They were the usual egrets, herons, ibis, lapwings and storks. Crakes and Jacanas are very hard to spot as they tend to conceal themselves within dense floating vegetation but occasionally would reveal themselves when they make short flights to a different patch. In the air, hundreds of Openbills rode the themals as the morning progressed. There was no sign of any Pied Kingfisher but I was compensated by several sightings of the Common Kingfisher. They are quite common here but make tough targets to photograph. I failed to get a single shot of the Common KF. They were frequently seen flitting quickly across the water from one perch to another but unfortunately were way out of range for my gear to get a half decent pic.
Around the grassy areas surrounding the lake, Prinia and Striated Grassbird were spotted and the trees held Black-naped Orioles and the ever present Yellow-vented and Streaked-eared bulbuls. Black Drongos were all over the place and a solitary White Wagtail seemed to prefer the car park bitumen surface. Several unidentified phyllosc warblers (these are tough to ID for me) were seen along what remains of the trails. A fruiting tree adjacent the White-eyed River Martin monument was visited by Coppersmith Barbets.
Towards evening, the water birds formed flocks to return to their roosts and some do pass just quite close enough for some practice BIF.
All in, I have to say I enjoyed the hours spent there even though I dipped as mentioned earlier. BB is definitely worth another visit when water levels drop further and the trails are reopened which I guess shouldn't be too long.
1. Asian Openbill:
2. Lesser Coucal:
3. Plaintive cuckoo:
4. Taiga Flycatcher:
5. Striated Grassbird:
6. Plain Prinia:
8. Long-tailed Shrike:
Next, I headed to HKKWS and spent a night camping. This sanctuary is a Unesco World Heritage site and credit must surely go to Seub Nakhasathien who made the ultimate sacrifice to draw attention to the importance of conservation of whatever is left in this part of the world. Please google to find out more.
A monument and museum have been built in his honour and is worth a visit to find out more about how Seub and his team of rangers despite being severely disadvantaged and lacking influence, toiled to gain international recognition.
Getting to HKKWS was an easy drive from BB and traffic was very light most of the way. A park entrance fee is payable but affordable and so was the camping fee of 30baht per tent. From the ticket booth to the camp ground is about 12 or 13 km and most of it is dirt track but in good nick and it passes through some promising habitat although I failed to spot anything other than some jungle fowl and the usual drongos and Indian Rollers.
Next to the camp grounds, basic toilet and shower (freezingly cold) facilities are provided and there is a sheltered area complete with tables and long benches where you can eat your meals if you so wish. There is no grid fed electricity but solar cells provide lighting when it gets dark and for me they were adequate. Cell phones are useless here. The staff rangers told me there is a canteen where one could order a meal or stock up on basic necessities but I didn't go to look it up. I brought my own stuff and canned food.
I was greeted on arrival (late afternoon) by a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies but lighting was poor so I didn't try to take any photos. The flock was busily feeding on scraps next to the clean up area where campers have carelessly discarded their unfinished meals. Not long after, a small flock of White-crested Laughing Thrush showed up and fed on the same scraps and as usual, created quite a racket while feeding. In nearly the last light, I took notice of 3 birds with undulating flight arrive at a tree about 60-70 meters from where I was. Placing bins to my eyes brought a smile to my face as a Black-headed Woodpecker came into focus. A lifer, but I won't be able to get a pic yet as the gear wasn't ready.
As darkness fell, an unidentified nightjar was briefly seen flying over the camp grounds and disappering. It got colder and colder as the night drew on and around 4am an owl was heard calling from a distance but I couldn't tell what it was.
I woke up a little after it got light, got my gear together crossed the suspension bridge and made my way slowly towards Seub's monument which is beside a clear water stream. There was little bird activity save for the drongos' calling.
A pair of otters was seen along the far side bank and they seemed to have caused a small flock of Blue Magpies to send out distress calls. The otters got into the water and followed the current downstream and soon were out of sight and the magpies too went quiet and unseen. The birding hasn't gotten any better and I was feeling a little dispirited. Black-crested Bulbuls made their presence known by their calls but I wasn't after them.
Scanning the open skies, I caught sight of a raptor just as it alighted on the top of a dead tree which also held a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. The raptor was too far away for any useable photo but anyhow, I took a few for the record and was quite delighted when it turned out to be a Black Baza. Conceding I won't be getting any better shots of this bird, I turned around and headed back the direction I came from. About 50 meters from the suspension bridge I struck gold! 3 male Black-headed Woodpeckers were on the one tree. As I got closer, I noticed 2 of them were actually feeding as they gradually clambered up the tree, but the 3rd was busily boring a hole and made a perfect target. I was busily shooting this bird until my attention was drawn to a repeating single note whistle which I didn't recognise. Looking towards the direction of the sound got me a Black-hooded Oriole perched right on top of a bamboo grove. I've missed this bird before at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary and wanted badly to at least get a record shot of it. I did get my record shot before it winged it. Although a fairly common bird, like the Blue Magpie and White-crested Laughing Thrush, I yet to get a half decent pic of all 3. Meanwhile, the woodpecker trio have also decided to move on and I reluctantly continued my trek back to the campsite. The last bird I managed to capture was a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo which was perched low but in heavy shade. The Better Beamer was put into action but only managed a few poor quality shots.
To be continued.................
1. Black-headed Woodpecker:
2.
3. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo:
Many water birds were observed foraging in clusters of vegetation off the 'mainland'. They were the usual egrets, herons, ibis, lapwings and storks. Crakes and Jacanas are very hard to spot as they tend to conceal themselves within dense floating vegetation but occasionally would reveal themselves when they make short flights to a different patch. In the air, hundreds of Openbills rode the themals as the morning progressed. There was no sign of any Pied Kingfisher but I was compensated by several sightings of the Common Kingfisher. They are quite common here but make tough targets to photograph. I failed to get a single shot of the Common KF. They were frequently seen flitting quickly across the water from one perch to another but unfortunately were way out of range for my gear to get a half decent pic.
Around the grassy areas surrounding the lake, Prinia and Striated Grassbird were spotted and the trees held Black-naped Orioles and the ever present Yellow-vented and Streaked-eared bulbuls. Black Drongos were all over the place and a solitary White Wagtail seemed to prefer the car park bitumen surface. Several unidentified phyllosc warblers (these are tough to ID for me) were seen along what remains of the trails. A fruiting tree adjacent the White-eyed River Martin monument was visited by Coppersmith Barbets.
Towards evening, the water birds formed flocks to return to their roosts and some do pass just quite close enough for some practice BIF.
All in, I have to say I enjoyed the hours spent there even though I dipped as mentioned earlier. BB is definitely worth another visit when water levels drop further and the trails are reopened which I guess shouldn't be too long.
1. Asian Openbill:
There must be hundreds of these birds around the lake and many were taking advantage of the thermals and soaring high in the sky as the day heated up. A few came close enough in the evening for a little BIF practice.
Same bird different PP tried here.
Frequently seen flying low as they move around different patches of vegetation. I mistook them for the Greater Coucal initially.
This individual alighted onto this tree stump briefly and warily eyed me before dropping to the ground to pick up an insect.
I mistook this for the Asian Brown but have since been corrected by more experienced birders who were kind enough to share their knowledge. Thanks David and the many folks at Birdforum for setting me straight.
If not for its song, I would have missed this bird. Taken towards late afternoon at quite a distance.
6. Plain Prinia:
Commonly seen among the many reed beds around the lake.
7. Long-tailed Shrike:
Got himself a grasshopper for lunch. It seemed to like this particular perch and kept coming back even after switching perches.
Another shot, same perch.
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9. Siberian Stonechat:
Tiny and quite inquisitive. It hung around for quite awhile. The female was seen too but out of range.
Next, I headed to HKKWS and spent a night camping. This sanctuary is a Unesco World Heritage site and credit must surely go to Seub Nakhasathien who made the ultimate sacrifice to draw attention to the importance of conservation of whatever is left in this part of the world. Please google to find out more.
A monument and museum have been built in his honour and is worth a visit to find out more about how Seub and his team of rangers despite being severely disadvantaged and lacking influence, toiled to gain international recognition.
Getting to HKKWS was an easy drive from BB and traffic was very light most of the way. A park entrance fee is payable but affordable and so was the camping fee of 30baht per tent. From the ticket booth to the camp ground is about 12 or 13 km and most of it is dirt track but in good nick and it passes through some promising habitat although I failed to spot anything other than some jungle fowl and the usual drongos and Indian Rollers.
Next to the camp grounds, basic toilet and shower (freezingly cold) facilities are provided and there is a sheltered area complete with tables and long benches where you can eat your meals if you so wish. There is no grid fed electricity but solar cells provide lighting when it gets dark and for me they were adequate. Cell phones are useless here. The staff rangers told me there is a canteen where one could order a meal or stock up on basic necessities but I didn't go to look it up. I brought my own stuff and canned food.
I was greeted on arrival (late afternoon) by a flock of Red-billed Blue Magpies but lighting was poor so I didn't try to take any photos. The flock was busily feeding on scraps next to the clean up area where campers have carelessly discarded their unfinished meals. Not long after, a small flock of White-crested Laughing Thrush showed up and fed on the same scraps and as usual, created quite a racket while feeding. In nearly the last light, I took notice of 3 birds with undulating flight arrive at a tree about 60-70 meters from where I was. Placing bins to my eyes brought a smile to my face as a Black-headed Woodpecker came into focus. A lifer, but I won't be able to get a pic yet as the gear wasn't ready.
As darkness fell, an unidentified nightjar was briefly seen flying over the camp grounds and disappering. It got colder and colder as the night drew on and around 4am an owl was heard calling from a distance but I couldn't tell what it was.
I woke up a little after it got light, got my gear together crossed the suspension bridge and made my way slowly towards Seub's monument which is beside a clear water stream. There was little bird activity save for the drongos' calling.
A pair of otters was seen along the far side bank and they seemed to have caused a small flock of Blue Magpies to send out distress calls. The otters got into the water and followed the current downstream and soon were out of sight and the magpies too went quiet and unseen. The birding hasn't gotten any better and I was feeling a little dispirited. Black-crested Bulbuls made their presence known by their calls but I wasn't after them.
Scanning the open skies, I caught sight of a raptor just as it alighted on the top of a dead tree which also held a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo. The raptor was too far away for any useable photo but anyhow, I took a few for the record and was quite delighted when it turned out to be a Black Baza. Conceding I won't be getting any better shots of this bird, I turned around and headed back the direction I came from. About 50 meters from the suspension bridge I struck gold! 3 male Black-headed Woodpeckers were on the one tree. As I got closer, I noticed 2 of them were actually feeding as they gradually clambered up the tree, but the 3rd was busily boring a hole and made a perfect target. I was busily shooting this bird until my attention was drawn to a repeating single note whistle which I didn't recognise. Looking towards the direction of the sound got me a Black-hooded Oriole perched right on top of a bamboo grove. I've missed this bird before at Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary and wanted badly to at least get a record shot of it. I did get my record shot before it winged it. Although a fairly common bird, like the Blue Magpie and White-crested Laughing Thrush, I yet to get a half decent pic of all 3. Meanwhile, the woodpecker trio have also decided to move on and I reluctantly continued my trek back to the campsite. The last bird I managed to capture was a Greater Racket-tailed Drongo which was perched low but in heavy shade. The Better Beamer was put into action but only managed a few poor quality shots.
To be continued.................
1. Black-headed Woodpecker:
The hole-borer
This one preferred to look for juicy grubs instead of boring holes.
3. Greater Racket-tailed Drongo:
